As Zhao Yi stepped into the pitch-black fog, his vision blurred for a moment before it cleared again.

Inside the fifth carriage, the players were a greasy middle-aged man named Wang Xu and a pale, cold woman named Li Miaomiao.

They were huddled in a corner by a pot of eerie blue flames, shivering and whispering to each other.

The sudden appearance of another person in the carriage naturally drew attention. The two players and three specters all turned their eyes to Zhao Yi, staring blankly.

The two players were visibly thrilled and excited!

Clearly, they had encountered some insurmountable difficulty, and Zhao Yi's arrival instantly gave them hope!

"Great! Zhao Yi, you're here!"

"Come save us!"

Wang Xu waved at Zhao Yi, his face covered in sweat.

His hand was trembling, whether from excitement or fear was unclear.

Zhao Yi approached the three specters. They had pale faces, devoid of any color, and their gazes were icy cold.

"Outsiders are forbidden from participating in the game!"

"Unless you're willing to wager your life!"

As soon as the specters finished speaking, the expressions of the two players changed dramatically!

Seeing Zhao Yi hesitate, Li Miaomiao frowned and said:

"Zhao Yi, what are you hesitating for?"

"We're all in the same boat now. If you just stand by and watch, isn't that a bit too selfish?"

The middle-aged man hurriedly waved his hand upon hearing this:

"This game isn't difficult. With your abilities, you should be able to complete it easily."

Zhao Yi glanced at Li Miaomiao and raised an eyebrow.

"Playing a game, huh?"

"Alright, what's the game?"

Seeing Zhao Yi agree, Wang Xu secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

Li Miaomiao, this woman, who knows which family princess she is from, raised to be so delicate, always acting superior when talking to others.

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A simple sentence could be said nicely, but she had to stand on the moral high ground and point fingers at others.

He was really afraid that Li Miaomiao would offend Zhao Yi, and Zhao Yi would just leave them behind!

Luckily, this rookie ranking leader seemed to have a good temper... quite easy to get along with.

While he was lost in his own thoughts, Zhao Yi had already joined the game.

The specters reiterated the rules to the three of them.

"This game is called Guess Guess Guess."

"Within ten minutes, you must find out how we died."

"You can ask a total of three questions. We won't lie in response, but you can't directly ask about our cause of death."

"If you fail the task, we will take one arm from each of them."

"And you... will die!"

After the evil spirit finished speaking, Zhao Yi glanced at the two players. Li Miaomiao maintained her aloof and arrogant demeanor, arms crossed.

In her eyes, it seemed only natural for Zhao Yi to risk his life to save her arm!

The middle-aged man also showed no shame, wearing a sycophantic smile.

"Moreover, they've already used up their questions, leaving only one."

"Think carefully before you ask."

The three specters wore greedy smiles, their ghostly green eyes examining Zhao Yi's flesh.

This was like a piece of pork falling from the sky—why not eat it?

Zhao Yi stroked his chin, pondering seriously for a moment.

"Well... since I have to ask a question..."

"Alright, let me ask you... do you long for freedom?"

As soon as Zhao Yi opened his mouth, everyone, human and ghost alike, was stunned.

Damn it!

Who the hell told you to ask such a useless philosophical question at this time?

Li Miaomiao finally couldn't suppress her displeasure, her eyes blazing.

"Great, the only good opportunity wasted."

She was so angry she threw up her hands, her expression as if she had eaten something foul.

"First, Wang Xu wasted two questions, and now you've wasted one. Ha, with your attitude, I really don't know how you got to the top of the ranking!"

"Men are indeed useless breeding tools. If this were a matriarchal era, you wouldn't even be fit to handle our waste!"

Zhao Yi ignored her, looking seriously at the three specters, repeating his question.

"Do you long for freedom?"

"Answer me."

The three specters fell silent.

They had said they would answer any question truthfully, without lying.

The word "freedom" seemed to be a distant past for them... a precious thing they could no longer hope for.

"We long for it."

"Desperately long for it."

"But freedom is beyond reach!"

One of the specters even sighed.

But it was only for a moment before its expression returned to its icy state.

"Alright!"

"You've asked your questions!"

"Now, it's time to guess our causes of death."

"Guess correctly, and you're temporarily safe. Guess wrong, and you'll be dealt with according to the rules!"

As the specter finished speaking, Wang Xu's shiny bald head glistened even more, cold sweat trickling down his forehead as he swallowed nervously.

He was scared.

Li Miaomiao was equally pale, her fear momentarily silencing her sharp tongue. Under the watchful eyes of the three specters, her body shook like a leaf, inching towards the corner!

Their hearts pounded loudly, and at this moment, besides stalling for time, they had no idea what else to do!

At the critical moment, after sneaking a peek at the data of the three specters, Zhao Yi suddenly spoke.

He pointed at the fat specter on the far left, which had obvious strangulation marks on its neck and pieces of flesh hanging from its body, and said:

"You were murdered. Someone strangled you to eat your flesh."

Then, he turned to the hunched, thin specter in the middle and said:

"You died of asthma, suffocating to death on the train without medication."

Finally, he looked at the closest specter, the one with the most twisted body, the most ferocious face, and the greatest resentment, and said:

"You died by suicide."

A strange silence ensued. The three specters scrutinized Zhao Yi for a long time before slowly speaking:

"You have completed the game."

"For now, you are safe."

Zhao Yi extended his hand to the three specters, shaking each of their hands, and smiled amidst their cold stares:

"I am like you. I also long for freedom."

"And... I'm willing to give everything for it!"

The three specters exchanged glances, their eyes flickering with a faint light.

In the corner, Wang Xu and Li Miaomiao were basking in the joy of surviving a disaster, not fully recovered yet. Wang Xu habitually echoed:

"Yes! Yes!"

"I like freedom too!"

"We're actually all the same!"

"There's no need to tear each other apart!"

But no one paid him any attention.

Zhao Yi looked at the path leading to the fourth carriage, as if he had thought of something, and tentatively asked the three specters who had returned to their seats:

"What happened on this train?"

The three specters' expressions were subtle, and they said nothing.

Zhao Yi had already anticipated this outcome.

He just wanted to confirm his suspicions.

After a brief silence, the specter who had died by suicide suddenly spoke:

"There are no answers for you on this train."

"You have to go outside to find them."

"But the outside world is dangerous. You need to find a Ghost Candle to survive out there..."

...

PS:

1. Thank you all for reading.

2. I'm a merciful author. Some characters you may not like, but I'll still give them a good (complete) ending (corpse).

3. The author is a slow writer, sorry!